About Krisdjansen

Kia ora, I’m Kris - a writer, artist, and observer of life’s quieter miracles.

Each day, I walk the trails of Pāpāmoa Hills, a place that has become my teacher, my refuge, and my inspiration. It’s here - from season to season, amongst the nature, the native trees, the native flowers and the native bees - that I have rediscovered what it means to feel alive.

For years, I ran businesses, raised a famiy, paid mortgages and chased the kind of success that comes with exhaustion. But beneath all of that, I carried a journal - the one thread that always pulled me home to myself. Writing was how I made sense of the world, how I remembered who I was.

When life began to quieten again, I found myself drawn back to nature - to the small things, the real things. I started noticing New Zealand’s native bees and through the lens of a macro lens, I captured our own native bees that most people don’t even realise exist.

These bees have been the foundation of our entire eco-system in New Zealand for tens of millions of years, and yet, we only have 28 species and their numbers are declining. Most people here only know honey bees but these natives have built important symbiotic relationships with our native plants, they are what help keep our native bush alive.

This space - Where the Native Bees Dream - is where I share what they’ve taught me: about patience, belonging, resilience, and wonder. Through poems, stories, and close-up photography, I try to capture the language of the living world - and remind us all that we are a part of it.

If you ever find yourself walking these same hills, slow down and listen. You might just hear the hum too.